1 What sorrow awaits you who lie awake at night, thinking up evil plans. You rise at dawn and hurry to carry them out, simply because you have the power to do so. 2 When you want a piece of land, you find a way to seize it. When you want someone’s house, you take it by fraud and violence. You cheat a man of his property, stealing his family’s inheritance.

3 But this is what the Lord says: “I will reward your evil with evil; you won’t be able to pull your neck out of the noose. You will no longer walk around proudly, for it will be a terrible time.” 4 In that day your enemies will make fun of you by singing this song of despair about you: “We are finished, completely ruined! God has confiscated our land, taking it from us. He has given our fields to those who betrayed us.” 5 Others will set your boundaries then, and the Lord’s people will have no say in how the land is divided. (Micah 2 vs 1-5 New Living Translation.)

Do you sometimes find it hard to fall asleep because your mind is over active? The prophet Micah knew that there were many people in his day who lay awake at night with their minds abuzz making plans. But what sort of plans? (See vs 1-2).

That’s right - they were plans of wicked mischief. The big lesson here is that God knows the things we think about - even those things that keep us awake at night. He knows our plans and our motives. In Psalm 94 the writer says: “Foolish people, when will you be wise? Can the one who shaped the ear not hear, and the one who formed the eye not see? The one who instructs nations, the one who teaches mankind knowledge - does he not discipline? The Lord knows the thoughts of mankind; they are futile.”

But Micah goes on to say that God is also making plans! Look at vs 3-4 again. Because these people were so wicked, God was going to bring enemies into their land who would plunder them completely. And just as football fans often taunt their opponents with mocking songs, so the enemies were going to sing mocking songs over these people who did not care about God and who had been so cruel to others.

What about us? What plans do you have for your life? Are they the sort of things that God would be pleased with? Could you ask God to bless your plans? Psalm 19 vs 14 gives a lovely prayer we can pray. It says “May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”